Day 10 – June 27th 2018 Hot Springs Canyon to Golden

 

The ride was supposed to be 117 km but I must have used the wrong location in Golden because it was only 115 km with 1285 m of vertical.  It was a 2592 calorie day.

 One quality that RJD brings to the ride that makes the ride so much better is his ability not to focus on a small goal but to see the broader picture.  It was evident as we rode through zone two of the ride.  But more about all the parts of the ride.

This section can best be considered as three rides.  The first ride was a 34 km ride up to the Roger's Pass Summit which follows a narrow valley with the summit mountains at the end.  The climb averages 1.9% with some flat sections and some parts at 4%.  You find a gear that works and just keep peddling for a couple hours.  We climbed at 17.8 kph which was faster than I expected.  Around km 30 of the ride, you pass the Illecillewaet Glacier viewing area.  It is the same view you would get from a car heading west but we got to enjoy it for many minutes.  We hit the summit with the time zone change around 11:15.

 

The second part of the ride was a large descent that was to include lunch at Heather Mtn lodge and restaurant.  We did not have reservations and we found out that they open only for supper.  So we did not have to worry about a break in the second third of the ride.  We made it through the snow sheds aided by construction that had everyone at 30 km per hour so we just rode in the lane.  We stopped at the information pullout that talked about why the Selkirks and the Purcells have such different shapes for mountains so close together.  Purcells are the round range on the south side of the highway impacted by glaciers, the Selkirks to the north that avoided this glacial action or this is my recollection.

As we rode though the second third of the ride, RJD commented that the view to the left was stunning.  I had my tunnel vision on focused on the mountains in front.  The view to the north was spectacular so thanks RJD for keeping me aware of the beauty of the ride.  The focus of this section is definitely the Rockies for the first time in the ten-day ride.

The last third starts at the Columbia River crossing and takes you into town.  For some reason I thought this section would be drudgery but I was so wrong.  Maybe the winds helped to propel us up the river but unlike a car ride where you are trying to get somewhere, the ride today allowed us to focus on the mountains a little more.  The Rocky Mountains on our left and the Purcells on our right provided great views.  Then there were views of the Columbia River and the CPR rail lines.  The only thing that might make this better would be a board walk out into the Columbia watershed to see this third landscape up close.

We rolled into Golden and had lunch around 2:30 which on a 2600 calorie day might be a little late but it was the first option other than a bag of potato chips (crisps).  Hot tub, some email, and I think we are ready for supper.

On today’s ride, there were a couple sections of construction where the bike lane was beside a large drop to the ground work below.  Once this drop was six feet and I learned that I need to ride about six feet from the edge when there is a six-foot drop.